Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Traveling along the family tree, it often becomes necessary to understand the geography of the area of interest. A good map is needed to help explore the names, places, and land surrounding this branch of the tree. For my JONES family this often lead to England, and finally Wales. The following is a copy of the front of my map. It came in handy during those dark and stormy nights when you needed to find your way along the branches.

The map is titled as a sight-seeing map of England and Wales. It was published by Geographers' A-Z Map Co. Ltd. It opens to a very large map with index and chronology included. Starting in the Bronze Age, thru Norman, to modern times, it list the geographic locations of many places important to each period of history. [Once opened, it could be a bear to fold back up.] Needless to say, it provided a source of historic and geographic information. A good map indeed for those who's family tree leads this direction.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

East meets west, and West meets east...along a border which for many generations was an ill defined frontier between the Welsh...the Marcher Lords...and the English Monarchy. On this border is located many of my family stories. As early as Wat's Dyke, my family tree had established its identity between this often used location to test ones stubborn nature, and willingness to survive.

Modern day accounts of this area provide some help in understanding the history and location of many geographic names. A fellow "Jones" provided the following text. First published 1938, it provides illustrations and sketches of the land.

North to south it runs, giving one persons opinion of this landscape. For many Americans of Welsh descent, Shropshire seems to play a key role. Oswestry, Maelor Saesneg, and Wrexham were connecting points for my family.

Another text is titled: "In The March and Borderland of Wales". First published in 1905, it gives the political, legal, and geographic concepts from the time of Edward I, in 1282. It contains a wonderful group of illustrations giving a context not often found in modern day texts.